and he analyzes the imagery in a 3-d environment in his futuristic lab on the campus of the university of california san diego. >> sensing something man made right around that region. >> reporter: and albert lin is just one in a long line of explorers whose work is funded by "national geographic." >> people think of this as either a magazine or as a television channel. that yellow border that everyone is so familiar with. but really exploration is what it's always defined our heart. >> reporter: and terry garcia, who oversees geographic's current exploration programs says it all began when founders, including inventor alexander graham bell, started the "national geographic" society 125 years ago today. >> here we have one of the finest of early american sculptures. >> we have funded more than 10,000 scientific research projects and expeditions. >> reporter: more than 10,000! we celebrated the 10,000th about a year-and-a-half ago. this is a classic photograph of hiram bingham who in 1912 discovered or we like to say rediscovered machu pichu. >> reporter: it wasn't just that amazing inca